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A group of researchers has discovered a new species of bent-toed gecko from Agasthyamalai hills in the Western Ghats. The species has been given the common name Aravind’s ground gecko after noted malacologist N.A. Aravind.

Highlights:

• The new species, which was been given the scientific name Cyrtodactylus aravindi, has been described based on its distinctness in the morphological and molecular DNA data, according to a communication from the researchers.
• Aravind’s ground gecko has so far been found only at two locations, Muppanddal and Thuckalay, in Kanyakumari district falling within the Agasthyamalai biosphere reserve in Tamil Nadu.

• The details of the new species were described in the journal, Vertebrate Zoology.